Fake Money, Blue Smoke

Haven’s crime-fiction debut (after the seafaring adventure novels Captain Grey’s Gambit and Hold Fast, written under the name J.H. Gelernter) is an adrenaline-filled heist thriller that never lets go. Matt Kubelsky and Kelly Haggerty seem to attract trouble like magnets attract iron. When Matt is released from a New York federal prison, his ex-girlfriend Kelly unexpectedly picks him up. It turns out that Kelly, now a skilled counterfeiter, needs a bit of muscle for a complex art heist she is planning. What follows is a wild ride of a thriller, with something for everyone—a horseback robbery of an Amtrak train to steal artwork, theft from neo-Nazis, modern art, murder, international terrorism, romance, violence, revenge, action, yachts and private jets, and numerous double-crosses. Award-winning narrator Justin Price employs excellent pacing and maintains a breakneck speed that will have listeners on the edge of their seats. He ably creates well-developed characterizations, topped off by a smooth, polished delivery.